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I followed, hating the hurt in his eyes, and just wanting to reach out and touch him.
But he was right.
I’d made accusations. Ones that had hurt him.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured. “But you lied…”
He shook his head. “I never lied. I just didn’t tell you other people’s business. I protected the privacy of people I cared about. People who the two of you were supposed to care about too, for the record. But do the two of you actually care about anyone other than yourselves?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Vaughn was equally silent.
I’d been so caught up in my revenge plans. I’d dragged Kian into all of it without a second thought, just because he’d been willing. Nice. Kind.
The complete opposite of Caleb.
Had I ever really even asked what was going on in his life?
The clear answer was no.
When Kian brushed past us and went upstairs to his room, neither Vaughn nor I stopped him.
I was too clouded in my own regrets to move.
Kian deserved better.
8
WINNIE
Iflinched at every sound now. Every little noise was as loud as gunshots, each one echoing around my head and rattling my brain until it ached.
Everything hurt, especially my stomach. It growled with hunger pains like I’d never known before. Back in the day, when I’d come home from school and complained to Mama I was starving because I hadn’t eaten since lunch, I’d had no idea what I was talking about.
I knew what true starvation felt like now.
I’d barely eaten in days.
We’d had nothing more than scraps since Caleb had shot those paramedics right in front of us and then forced Hayden and Kara into an ambulance with him. Not since the cruel, angry men they’d left behind had dragged the paramedics’ bodies out by their feet, leaving a thick, wide smear of blood behind.
It was still there now. They hadn’t bothered to come back in and clean it up.
They hadn’t bothered to feed us anything other than their stale pizza crusts, which didn’t go far between the four of us. We survived only by drinking the water from the bathroom faucet.
They’d only opened the door one other time, throwing in a blanket-wrapped bundle, but just as quickly they’d locked the doors and boarded the windows so we couldn’t even see out.
We were as good as caged rats.
Kept in the dark.
Ignored.
Forgotten.
Nova shifted on her dirty mattress to peer over at the door. “Something’s happening out there.”
Georgia and Vivienne sat up and looked in the same direction.
Georgia cocked her head. “I don’t hear anything.”
